GCKPROFESSIONAL STAFF ASSIGNMENTS
AND TRANSFERS
GCKAssignment of Certificated Staff
The Governing Board delegates primary responsibility for assigning certificated staff members to specific instructional and extracurricular duties to the high school principal. Extracurricular activities must be mutually agreed upon by both the principal and the certificated staff member involved. Though the principal shall receive and utilize input from department heads, ultimate accountability is vested in the principal; therefore, the Governing Board grants the principal the authority to make any and all such assignments.
Transfers
A teacher who has been employed by the School District for the major portion of three (3) or more consecutive school years and who is currently designated in the lowest performance classification for two (2) consecutive school years shall not be transferred as a teacher to another school in that school district unless the District has issued a preliminary notice of inadequacy of classroom performance and approved a performance improvement plan for the teacher pursuant to A.R.S. 15-539 (lowest performance classification) and the Governing Board has approved the new placement as in the best interests of the pupils in the school. A teacher who continues to be designated in one (1) of the two (2) lowest performance classifications shall not be permitted to transfer to another school. A teacher shall not be transferred more than once pursuant to A.R.S. 15-537.
There is an additional admonition in A.R.S. 15-537 that any School District policy pertaining to the transfer of teachers from one school to another school within the School District shall take into consideration the needs of the pupils in the School District and the current distribution of teachers across all of the four (4) performance classifications adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to A.R.S. 15-203(A)(38).
Voluntary Assignment from
One Campus to Another
The Governing Board recognizes that certified staff members may need to transfer from one teaching assignment to another for personal and professional reasons. The Governing Board therefore subscribes to the importance of an orderly professionally-sound process for voluntary transfer from one campus to another.
Voluntary transfer of certificated staff members from one campus to another within the District shall be accomplished through the following process:
● In most situations, voluntary transfers will not be permitted during the current academic year; however, in situations that appear in the best interest of the students and instructional programs or departmental operations, or subject to the availability of teaching personnel, a voluntary transfer may be considered.
● All vacancies will be posted in accordance with Human Resources regulations.
● Any certificated staff member who desires transfer to a posted vacancy shall, within seven (7) calendar days after posting, apply for the specific assignment and school(s) preferred, in accordance with District application procedures. No position shall be filled prior to seven (7) calendar days after the posting.
● The desires of the certificated staff member requesting a voluntary transfer shall be honored to the extent the transfer does not conflict with the instructional requirements and best interests of the District.
● If more than one (1) certificated staff member with equal qualifications should request transfer to the same vacancy, preference shall be given to the certified staff member with seniority within the District. Applicants for voluntary transfer shall be considered along with new applicants. However, if, in the judgment of the recommending administrator, the requestor for voluntary transfer and the new applicant possess equal qualifications, preference shall be given to the voluntary transfer requestor.
● As soon as practical the Executive Director for Human Resources or designee shall notify each voluntary transfer applicant, in writing, of the status of the request for transfer.
Involuntary Transfers
The Governing Board recognizes its responsibility to prevent undue disruptions to instructional programs or departmental operations, to relieve overstaffing, and to provide means of overcoming other unforeseen circumstances that may occur. The Governing Board, therefore, is committed to a process of involuntary transfers that accommodates both District needs and, to the extent possible, the interests and aspirations of certificated staff members.
Adopted: August 21, 2019